Wendigo (comics) (section)
Fictional character biography Several people have been afflicted with the curse of the Wendigo, including Paul Cartier, Georges Baptiste, Francois Lartigue, Lorenzo, Mauvais and others. The curse is regional to the woods of Northern Canada and takes place, under the right conditions, when a person in the forests of Canada feeds on human flesh. The cannibal transforms into a superhumanly strong, nearly indestructible, fur-covered monster: the Wendigo. He or she then roams the woods eating human beings. The Wendigo has frequently fought the Hulk, Wolverine, and Alpha Flight. Paul Cartier transformed into the Wendigo, battled the Hulk, and escaped.Hulk #162 He battled the Hulk again and encountered Wolverine,Hulk #180 and then battled the Hulk and Wolverine; Paul Cartier was cured as college professor Georges Baptiste became the Wendigo.Hulk #181 He later terrorized a snowbound group.Monsters Unleashed #9 He battled Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and members of Alpha Flight; the Baptiste Wendigo was captured and cured by Shaman.Uncanny X-Men #140 Fur trapper Francois Lartrigue later transformed into the Wendigo, battled the Hulk and Sasquatch, and was taken to be cured by Shaman.Hulk #272 Other versions Earth X In the Earth X continuity, there appears a unique twist on the classic Wendigo. This variation of Wendigo is unlike the previous; while the Wendigo curse afflicts only one person at a time, an army of Wendigo is formed in this continuity, due to the curse afflicting Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man, after he chooses to eat one of his own duplicated bodies in response to the strict rationing of food that came with the declining animal population. MC2 The Wendigo makes another appearance in the MC2 imprint of Marvel Comics, an alternate future featuring, among others, the children of existing Marvel superheroes. In an issue of Wild Thing, the Hulk, Doctor Strange, Wolverine, and Wolverine's daughter Wild Thing encounter a large number of Wendigos, which turn out to be a lost cub scout troop that had eaten its scoutmaster. Doctor Strange is able to remove the curse from the children and remove their memory of the events.Wild Thing #0 Ultimate Wendigo The Ultimate version of the Wendigo is slated to be introduced in Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk. One Wendigo battled the Werewolf by Night in an issue of Marvel Comics Presents. Its most frequent appearances were in the limited series Sabretooth: Open Season #1-4 where Sabretooth was hired to kill a Wendigo creature, ultimately succeeding.Sabretooth: Open Season #1-4 A few years later, a new Wendigo emerges, leading to a fight with Wolverine and She-Hulk.She-Hulk vol.4, #16 A local Canadian super-hero, Talisman, arrives and claims to have a magical cure for the Wendigo's condition, but S.H.I.E.L.D. agents won't let her pass until they finally confirm her identity. After a long battle, the Wendigo is defeated by a combined attack from his two opponents, and placed into SHIELD custody. In King Size Hulk #1, it is revealed that a pack of Wendigo exist in the Bering Strait after Red Hulk is attacked by a Wendigo,attracked by his camp fire,cooking a meal.The Red Hulk is bitten on the shoulder and bleeds hot radioactive blood.He shoots the Wendigo in chest a few times with a rifle and wouns the creature,but it uses it's long tail to damage his guns sight scope.Angered,the Red Hulk reveals he gets hotter-the madder he gets,kills one and the others come to claim the body and eat it.King Size Hulk #1 The Wendigos begin their invasion upon Las Vegas.Hulk #7 .Bruce Banner,on the trail of the Red Hulk,witnesses the Wendigo pack hunting the Casino areas big gaming room,all crouched about a water fountain with statues.Excited near a terrified girl,he transforms into the Grey Hulk.The Grey Hulk gets help in the fight against them from Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, Sentry and Brother Voodoo.Knotched into some debris,later on the Green Hulk appears.Hulk #8 However, the Wendigos infect Hulk turning him into the Wendihulk who ends up attacking his fellow heroes. The heroes managed to cure Hulk and drive away the Wendigos.Hulk #9 Powers and abilities The Wendigo possesses a variety of superhuman physical abilities as a result of transformation by an ancient mystical curse. The curse causes anyone that ingests the flesh of another human, while within the Canadian wilderness, to transform into the Wendigo. The Wendigo possesses superhuman physical strength of an unknown limit. It is known that the Wendigo possesses sufficient strength to go toe-to-toe with the Incredible Hulk. Aside from its vast strength, the tissues of the Wendigo's body are considerably stronger than those of a human being, providing it with superhuman durability. A Wendigo's body can resist high caliber machine gun shells without sustaining injury. If a Wendigo is injured, it can recover from the physical trauma with tremendous speed and efficiency, giving rise to the quote "strike him down and he shall only rise again". The dense fur covering the Wendigo's body grants it immunity to the harsh conditions of the extreme cold weather common in the areas in which the Wendigo has appeared. The Wendigo can be rendered unconscious by sufficient force, such as severe physical injury and trauma, but it has even been able to regenerate from being completely disemboweled, including having its heart removed from its body. However, consumption of a removed heart will confer all powers and even the form of the Wendigo on whomever consumes it. It is not known what effect psionic attacks would have on or against a Wendigo. Despite the Wendigo's great size, it can run at speeds greater than that of an Olympic level athlete. The enhanced musculature of the Wendigo generates less lactic acid than the muscles of a human being, granting it superhuman levels of stamina. The Wendigo's fingers and toes are tipped with razor sharp, retractable claws that are capable of piercing even the Hulk's skin, a feat usually reserved for adamantium, due to a combination of the toughness of the claws and the Wendigo's massive physical strength. Even though each Wendigo was once a human being, in most cases very little is left of the person it once was. It possesses little intelligence and can be considered non-sentient, and with the exception of brief and rare instances, is unable to remember things about its former life. It also lacks the ability to speak anything other than its own name, which it often will yell and repeat during its attacks. Sorcerers such as Mauvais and Lorenzo have been able to avoid this aspect of the curse, using magic to gain the power of the Wendigo while keeping their intelligence and the power of speech.